Video Introduction to Samsung’s Nexus S

Last week, Google announced a successor to its original Nexus One with news of the Samsung Nexus S smartphone, which starts shipping to customers next week. We received a loaner Nexus S and already opened the box to see the first handset to ship with Android 2.3 software, also known as Gingerbread.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dj8vMFtEFCE]

One immediately noticeable upgrade from its predecessor is the larger, 4-inch touchscreen display, but there are surprises you can’t see as well: in particular is Google’s inclusion of an NFC or near-field communications chip and supporting software to use it. Although NFC technology is most commonly associated with mobile payment processing, it opens other possibilities for the Nexus S as well. Restaurants could add NFC chips to menus to display the daily specials on a nearby smartphone, as one example, but there are many other uses.

We’ll have more in-depth thoughts on the newest, pure Android experience soon, but for now, enjoy our video unboxing and introduction to the Nexus S!